


The world within

by LFL21_PotterAndEarpFan



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Autism Spectrum, Autistic Nicole Haught, Champ Hardy/Stephanie Jones, F/F, WynHaught - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2019-12-25 08:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18257210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LFL21_PotterAndEarpFan/pseuds/LFL21_PotterAndEarpFan
Summary: Nicole Haught, a transferred student with ASD, is the new challenge of Purgatory High School. Rosita Bustillos, her wife Chrissy Nedley and Jeannie Lucado, are going to help her settle down, while she faces new friendships, struggles and the possibility of love.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I decided to follow elandhop's "Stay" Series example and give some attention to ASD. I made some research and included my experience with kids within the spectrum. The Geneva Centre of Autism is a real place dedicated to help families, professionals and children in understanding the conditions and improve the possibilities for a successful life with ASD. I hope you give this story a shot and that you help me with some feedback whether in the comments or by messages. You can follow me on Twitter as @LauraFL.  
> Take care and keep the #FightForWynonna, support Pooched The Series and vote for Dom at the CDN.

_Nicole Rayleigh Haught. 16 years old. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Daughter of Mariann Davies (an alcoholic and drug addict) and an unknown father (probably her mother’s dealer). Davies was brought to Toronto Grace Hospital when she went into labor at seven months of pregnancy. She was under the influence of cocaine and was treated to avoid more complications for her or the baby. Soon after delivery, Davies left the facilities and the police couldn’t track her again. The baby was then under the protection of Toronto Children Services and the doctor who helped her mother filed for the possibility of adoption._

     “What are you doing?” asks my wife, Chrissy Nedley. She is the town’s Sheriff daughter.

We live in Purgatory, a small town between Canada and United States, near Alberta. We married soon after college. She works as a Dance Teacher in her own Academy, the only one around, and I’m a school psychologist, in charge of helping the middle and high school kids, specially those with difficulties.

     “I’m writing a report about a new kid. She transferred from Toronto and her case needs close inspection and constant support” I told her, and she moved behind me. I moan as she started to massage my shoulders while I kept writing my report.

     “Ah, yes. I think I saw her with her father in the morning. They were walking around town, probably getting acquainted with everything. She seemed a bit agitated and distracted”.

I turned to her and she sat on my lap. I love this woman!

     “Well, it’s part of her normal, Chris. She was diagnosed at 1 within the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Is in a low level but she will need our guidance in school”

     “Maybe dancing will do her good. Or something that can help her senses. I will make a research of my own, Rossie, and I will help however I can”. She said excited, kissed me and made her way to another part of our house.

I smiled at her enthusiasm while reviewing Nicole’s file. Her photo showed a very beautiful redhead teenager. Nothing in her looks could reveal her life struggles, but it was maybe due to her adoptive parents. Dr. Samuel Haught and his wife, a philosophy professor, Miranda Sanders-Haught.

They decided to move to this small town following the suggestion of the girl’s medical team. Toronto was a beautiful city but maybe too crowded and too overwhelming for the girl. She had gone through most of her education with a good level of success, but it was all because her parents had friends who have recommended a team of doctors, therapists and psychologist that were working all the time in close contact with her school. Still, the girl started to show signs of distress and no matter the strategy, she started to struggle more with her education and social interactions. That’s why they moved, and it was now my responsibility to help them. So, I decided to continue my report to the school.

_Dr. Samuel Haught and his wife were accepted as Nicole’s parents when she was two months old. The police report of her mother and the health situation of the baby, premature and smaller for her age, were fundamental in making the adoption process successful in a short period of time._

_However, the time she spent under social care was important to notice high sensitivity to her surroundings, often crying when close to different noises or visual stimulus. The adoptive parents reported to her pediatrician that the girl wasn’t listening to their voices or reacting to them so the doctor initially prescribed auditive examination. At her six months, she was still avoiding direct contact or reacting badly to stimuli such as use of sound objects, pacifiers, close contact to strangers. Her attention was only focused when close to the family dog and when her mother played the piano. She was later diagnosed as part of ASD._

_By recommendation of her therapist, the family dog was trained to give Nicole support. Maxwell, the dog, was a two years old Pitbull, and he oversaw helping the girl with her social interactions, often calming her when she was too affected by them. She managed to have some friends in preschool thanks to the dog’s company but her attention to conversation was usually affected, which made her friends few. Despite that, the class learned of her condition and the teachers reported that the kids were very supportive and knew how to help her calm, offering toys that had captured her attention or taking her to her favorite place in the school: a make-believe train in the playground._

_The transition to elementary school was a bit traumatic as when Nicole was 7 years old, Maxwell died, and she lost her best friend and support. The traumatic experienced caused an interference with her progress and she had problems interacting with the class, following instructions and often isolating herself. It didn’t help the process that the teacher in charge of her didn’t think it was good to report the situation. It was two months after Maxwell’s death that the Haughts’ noticed their daughter wasn’t telling them much about her school time and actually started to get sick before going to school._

_The Haughts considered adopting another support animal but when they took Nicole to see them, she was troubled because not of them where as Maxwell. They were often at school receiving reports of aggressions from their daughter to other kids and some tantrums when she was forced to interact during breaks or doing class work that was too difficult for her to focus on. After noticing the lack of understanding of kids with ASD at the school, they transferred the girl to a private one and received the help of the pediatrician in finding support for kids with ASD. They contacted Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto and soon started to received indications as how to help Nicole to express her emotions, identify her limits in interactions and improve her communication skills._

_Soon the changes were noticed, and Nicole was adapting to school again. She succeeded with her elementary years thanks to a class monitor specially for her that the teachers had selected with the guidance of Geneva specialists. The monitor was a girl of Nicole’s class by the name of Shae, empathetic and in tune with Nicole’s needs, often helping her calm when she was close to feeling frustrated or distressed. The teachers allowed Nicole time to play with a train model she carried to school, when things got too bad for her._

_Nicole enjoyed her time at school. Routines were clear and her friendship with Shae allowed her to interact easily with other kids. Shae had after school sessions at Nicole’s house, to help her remember class topics and to review things that weren’t clear because she had been distracted or was allowed time to play outside. The Geneva team reinforced those learnings with repetitive exercises and dynamics that made the schooling process easier for Nicole._

_Then, things started to change. It’s not clear what happened, as the school fails to report the cause and the Haughts have not provided enough information. When Nicole turned 13 and she was in middle school, her anxiety levels rocketed. Tests results were lower, and the Geneva team recommended in numerous occasions to have a closer relationship to the teachers, but the school didn’t always accept the time for this. Shae helped some by trying to give visual examples of the classes to Nicole, with close support from the therapists._

_The team gave the Haughts the idea to promote the participation of Nicole in some sport. As the girl was interested in trains, Shae convinced her to run as fast as them and she was a success at the Athletics team. This helped to improve the girl’s management of anxiety as she decided to run whenever she felt distressed._

_However, Shae had to move to Montreal because of her mother’s work as a doctor, and this affected Nicole again. She stopped the participation in Athletics, her grades dropped, and her anxiety levels were higher, causing her to stop participating in routines, not interacting with others and even skipping class. That’s why her parents chose Purgatory, hopeful to stop Nicole from sensing Shae’s absence in a different city._

     “Well, that’s it. Hopefully Lucado will read it and help me with arranging a teacher meeting to help Nicole”.

     “Are you done? I’m hungry and I think we should eat outside” asks Chrissy. She’s smiling so sweetly that she knows I won’t be able to say no to her.

     “Of course, darling. Let’s go”. I grab my coat and walk to her.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to Purgatory High!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Purgatory High teachers make preparations to receive their new student. Jeremy and Waverly are chosen to help her in the different classes, but the younges Earp finds herself frustrated with her task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> World Autism Awareness Day was yesterday, April 2. But I couldn't update as I wanted due to a difficulty with my two dogs. I wanted to do it soon, though, and here I am. Thank you for your amazing comments and reception of this fic. I hope to be up to your expectations. I am open to your ideas, suggestions and feedback in general. Have a lovely week!

Robert Svane have been teaching in Purgatory for ten years now. He is in charge of History as he is related to one of the first families in the town and enjoys the topic too much. He’s not famous for his caring nature and is sure a lot of people (students and teachers alike) hate his manners. He doesn’t care. He focuses only in his classes and demands the best participation and work from his students, who love him but also want to kill him for work overload. All except Waverly Earp, his wife’s younger sister and in love with history as much as him (although, he believes she is more obsessed with it than he is).

However, in all his years in the school, a transfer student was something unusual to have. There have been cases of kids that were homeschooled and then their parents decided to enroll, or kids that decided to go to better schools out of town. But to see a kid from a big city deciding to move to a small town like Purgatory was very weird and he was curious to learn more about it. That’s why he was not as bored as he tended to be, while walking to the Principal’s office to the meeting Lucado had informed by e-mail the night before.

When he arrived at the office, he noticed the same excitement in the other teachers: Stephanie Jones (Arts teacher), Mattie Perley (Math teacher), her sister Gretta (Science Teacher), Mercedes Gardener (English Teacher) and James Hardy (trainer for the basketball and athletics teams). He wasn’t sure about the participation of Champ Hardy in the meeting, but maybe the new kid was into sports. Champ had the most interested face of the group, probably thinking about the new acquisition for one of the teams, considering they tended to be bad in terms of competition or representation for the school. The only team that was worth something was the Cheerleading squad and that was because Chrissy Nedley worked with the girls as an external trainer.

Rosita Bustillos was also there. She was talking quietly with Lucado, probably preparing the information before starting the meeting. Then Lucado gave them all a look as if trying to notice who was missing. Robert was curious about the possibility of other teachers involved, as it could mean the new student was a lot of trouble or new gem they have to work hard to keep at school. His curiosity was tampered when Lucado cleared her throat, indicating the meeting was going to start and no more teachers were expected.

     “Good morning everybody” she said, and the teachers answered, politely and synchronized, which made Robert smirk. “I’m sorry for the last-minute information about this meeting and to make you come here so early. We were notified about the new student last Thursday, but we needed to check her information and be in contact with her family and the people in charge of supporting her”.

The teachers exchanged confused glances and Robert’s interest sparked again. Who was this kid and why was it necessary to be in contact with a support team of sorts?

     “Ms. Bustillos has a report for all of you that I ask you to read carefully before the start of the classes”. Rosita, the psychologist, was moving around giving the teachers carpets with the information.

Robert opened his. The girl, Nicole Rayleigh Haught, was a redheaded 16-year-old, coming from Toronto. But the most interesting part was that she was diagnosed within the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Definitely a challenge. He really loved those, especially as there were few in Purgatory.

     “Are we really prepared for a girl with Autism?” asked Jones. Champ’s girlfriend could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. She couldn’t see the challenge, just the difficulty for her.

     “I hope we are, Ms. Jones, as this is a school and it is our mission to educate kids in an inclusive environment. As someone in charge of the arts, I expect you are already thinking of ways to help Miss Haught to adapt to the school” said Lucado in a stern voice and Jones decided to focus once more in her folder.

     “As you can read there, Nicole had difficulties in her other schools due to changes in her support system, the lost of friends, a lack of communication between the teachers and her family and the difficulties of some teachers to help her be part of the class process, deciding to simply exclude her” Rosita started her explanation and gave a pointed look to Jones with the last part of her speech. Robert smirked again. Rosita was a badass and that was good in his book.

     “She was part of the Athletics team!” exclaimed Hardy, probably excited at the prospect of the new addition. Robert was curious about the fact that Hardy had ignored the diagnosis of the girl. But maybe he didn’t understand what it was about and had decided to pay attention only to her skills.

     “Yes, she was. But as you can see, her attention to the sport dropped with her friend’s departure. So, we need to make sure she becomes interested again. According to her support team of the Geneva Centre of Autism, that activity helped her to let out some anxiety and it is important to help her maintain her interest in it or something sport related”. Rosita continued and Hardy made some notes in his folder, smiling to himself.

     “Normally we give the kids their schedule once they are here and we consider their interests or inscriptions before the beginning of term. As the year is already running, and Ms. Haught’s conditions are special in our school, we send the information of her classes to her parents by e-mail. They are going to be working close to all of us and I expect weekly reports of you regarding her participation, difficulties and progress. We are her school team. We pay attention to every kid in our classes, but we need to do it more closely with her”, said Lucado.

     “Also, I’m going to ask you to consider some students that could help Nicole in your classes. A monitor of sorts, as it has worked with her in the past”, explains Rosita and Robert decides to make his first (and only intervention).

     “There’s not a lot of gifted kids in this school and we all probably have the same two in mind. Chettri and the little Earp are the best options, am I right?” he asked, and his colleagues nodded.

     “Those were the ones I was going to propose, actually. Mr. Chettri is good in my class and in Gretta’s too. And he is also very friendly, although not lucky making friends” said Mattie. Robert always considered her the kindest of the twins, as Gretta was usually a pain in the ass. Still, he like them both.

     “In that case, Mr. Chettri can be Ms. Haught’s monitor during her Math and Science Classes. And Ms. Earp will help her with Arts, History and English”, said Lucado, making notes in her chart for the meeting. “Mr. Svane”. Robert directed his attention to his boss. “You are going to be her homeroom teacher, as she’s part of the sophomore students that are assigned to you. I need you to pay closer attention to her, more than any of the other teachers”.

He nodded. Lucado always gave him the kids that had more difficulties in adaptation (like Chettri), behavior (like the youngest Gardner) and learning (like Herman Tate). She knew he had ways to help them or keep an eye on them.

     “Well, that would be all. Read the report carefully and don’t forget to inform any observations you have on the girl. Have a good day!”.

After Lucado’s words to end the meeting, Robert stood and walked to his homeroom class. On his way there he saw one of his favorite students. The girl was chaos personified, so most of the teachers either ignored her or gave her detentions, but he found her funny and a relieve in the middle of the normalcy of the town.

     “Why are you here, Earp? You are supposed to be already close to your homeroom”

     “Mr. Svane! How’s the wife?” she asked, focused on the things in her locker. Probably something to drink or smoke later.

     “She sends her greetings. Now, go to class!”. She smiled at him, closed her locker and went to class. Or so he hoped.

Robert entered his homeroom and saw that some students were still missing, Nicole Haught among them. He decided to give the instructions for the day.

* * *

     “Here we are, sweetie” said Samuel Haught to his daughter, parking the car in front of the school. They have decided with Miranda to have their first week in Purgatory free, so they could help their daughter in her adaptation process. Then, Miranda was going to start a class in a University in the closest city (a two-hour trip by car) and he was going to work as a doctor at Purgatory Mercy Hospital.

     “Are you ready?” asked his wife to the girl sitting quietly in the back.

Nicole was not ready at all. She had forgotten her favorite train at home, and her Harry Potter converse too. They were the things that always helped her to feel braver and she was so nervous making a mental list of the things she needed, that she forgot most of them. Her mother helped but Nicole couldn’t remind her of the converse and had distractedly wore some boots she found closer to her bed. Normally she was careful in organizing her things. She even classified them by color! But her mind was having a bad day and she was completely nervous.

     “Honey, you’re going to be fine. This is a great school. Your mother and I did some research and you’re going to love it” Samuel smiled, taking his daughter’s hands in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “We have a present for you. It’s something that will remind you of us while you are here”. He smiled when he saw a small spark of curiosity replacing the anxious features of his daughter.

He gave her a box and she stared at it for a few moments, before finally open it. It was a beautiful chain with a golden train pendant on it. Nicole loved trains! They reminded her of the Hogwarts Express or of her trip to Europe with her parents. The trains had so much history and connected everything in the world! She had made a lot of research about them and she knew facts most people ignored about trains. How could someone ignore trains, was beyond her. They were very interesting!

     “I knew you were going to love it!” said Samuel. He and his wife exchanged happy looks, noticing the excitement in Nicole, probably already going through everything she loved and knew about trains. “Let me put it to you”. She quickly moved so her father could put the chain in her neck. She carefully held the pendant in her hands, as it would give her energy to face anything.

     “It’s time to go inside”. Miranda gave Samuel and her a pointed look, and both exited the car. Nicole followed, once she checked it was expected of her. Her parents knew how to give her visual examples of expectations as she did better with those than the verbal ones, sometimes. “Remember, we are close to you honey. All you have to do if you need us is call, alright?” she showed Nicole their contact numbers in her phone, and the girl nodded. “Now, let’s find your classroom”.

Nicole held her pendant a bit stronger than before. The school was smaller than the one in Toronto and it wasn’t as scary. Still, it was a new place and if there was something that Nicole didn’t like a lot was to see new places or meet new people. They could be nice later, but she had trouble with the first parts of knowing them. Sometimes, when she was finally comfortable with a place or a person, something changed and her time with them ended. It was not a nice feeling. Not good at all.

While lost in her mind, she and her parents had arrived at a classroom. The number 102 in the door, reminded her it was the same in her schedule that was marked as her homeroom. Her father nocked and a tall man, with funny hair (like a Mohican she saw in a Museum once, but yellow and white in some parts) and funny beard opened the door.

     “Hello Nicole. I am your homeroom and history teacher, Mr. Svane” the man gave her a smile and proceeded to greet her parents. They talked quietly for a moment before her parents hugged her goodbye and let her to face the kids staring at her in the classroom. The pendant was now in a strong hold in her hands.

     “Kids, please form a circle. Nicole, take a seat here”. He guided her to an empty chair and helped her move to the circle that the other kids were making. “As we have someone new here, we are all going to share our name, age and a thing we really like. Mr. Chettri, please start”

* * *

Nicole Haught seemed nervous but Robert hope with the circle he could help her see everyone had to talk about themselves, not only her. He usually avoided these activities and sure the kids were surprised with the indication, but it was the first thing that came to his mind to help the girl feel more comfortable. She was probably not a fan of standing in front of the class to tell her name. Still, they were all good kids (Tucker not so much, but he had missed today’s class, which was great) and they were soon sharing facts about them. Nicole seemed to be calmer and when it was her turn to speak, she quietly stated her name, age and that she loved trains and Harry Potter.

After that, he had asked the group to organize the classroom once more and to go to their classes. Nicole had Science first, so he asked Jeremy to take her and the kid was excited to go with someone to class.

Then, he saw her again in history. He was grateful to see that Jeremy had accompanied her again, before leaving to his own class. Robert decided to write the reading assignment for the first minutes of the class and took the opportunity to introduce the little Earp to Nicole as the girl probably have read the information in the board beforehand.

     “Nicole, Waverly, please come here”. He saw the surprise in Waverly, and he knew it was not normal that he addressed the students by their names. Other than her, that is.

     “Yes, Mr. Svane?” asked Waverly and Nicole approached them slowly, holding a pendant she was wearing as if her life depended on it.

     “I’m sure you remember Nicole, from this morning”. The little Earp nodded and gave Nicole a little smile, that the redhead returned after a while. “I want you to help her in this class, and also in English and Arts” Waverly nodded, but seemed confused. “Nicole, Waverly is going to be with you on those classes and you can ask her for anything when you need to, alright?” the girl only stared at them. “Alright, go and prepare yourselves. We are going to start with a little class debate in a few minutes”

Robert started to explain the context for the debate and gave the instructions of participation to the class. It was related to their initial reading but as a surprise debate, the kids knew it was important to make connection to other topics and give their own opinions. He noticed that Waverly was giving Nicole instructions to prepare herself, but the girl was only focused on her pendant and kept glancing at her shoes, which Robert found odd.

During the debate, the participation of the class was good. The kids were showing they understood the importance of identifying the sides involved in the Cold War and how they kept influencing today’s politics. But Waverly appeared frustrated and he could see why. She couldn’t participate as much as she always did, trying to do what he asked her and failing miserably. He had noticed she had tried to make some jokes, because the comments were usually followed by a smile on her part, but Nicole only stared at her or focused her attention on her boots, as if suddenly remembering they were more important than the girl talking to her.

It wasn’t a surprise when Waverly approached him at the end of the class, leaving Nicole to pick her stuff and study her schedule.

     “Nicole!” Jeremy appeared at the door once more, and Robert felt thankful for it. “We can go to lunch now. Come on!”. Nicole nodded and left with Jeremy. An irritated Waverly giving them an exasperated look.

     “Mr. Svane, I can’t help her. If I do, I’m going to start losing my cool. That girl is clearly not interested in learning and it can affect my grades”. Before Robert could explain, she continued. “I tried to be sweet. I even told her about that time I confused my notes on Vietnam with the ones about Korea and started to study for the wrong exam until I noticed the dates. She didn’t find it funny or even reacted. I think she considers me far less interesting than her shoes, because she kept staring at them the whole debate! I mean, if you chose me because you think I can turn her into a star student as she was clearly failing in her other school, I can’t do it”.

     “Are you done, little Earp?”. He knew it bothered her to be called like that, but he also knew he only did it when she did something, he found amusing. When she nodded, he talked. “I chose you because you are kind and empathetic. Of course, you are brilliant, but I thought you were going to notice things without my help. Mr. Chettri did pretty quickly”. She was now not only irritated but confused. “I don’t want to put her in the spotlight so soon. I want to know if she explains it herself. Her parents said it was up to me, as Nicole prefers to be treated normally”.

     “I don’t understand it, Mr. Svane”

     “She was diagnosed with ASD”. He said that and noticed the change in her emotions, quickly going from understanding, to embarrassment and then determination.

     “I think you should give me a warning next time. She probably thinks I’m a shit ticket”.

Robert laughed.

     “I know you will do better tomorrow, little Earp. Just do your thing”.

He left her in the classroom. He was sure Waverly Earp was going to research everything she could to help Nicole Haught do better. Now he could relax a little during lunch.


	3. Chapter 2: Give people a chance it’s always polite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole tells her parents about her first day at the new school, while Waverly makes plans to vindicate herself with the redhead

Waverly Earp was a planner, a history lover and a fan of research. But she was also an expert in making people feel welcome as she was always easy to talk to, had the best timing for comments and was aware of the effect of her perfect smile.

However, after the disaster with the new kid in history, she felt utterly devastated. She had failed in all of the things that made her the favorite person in Purgatory in her desperation to participate in a very interesting surprise debate during her favorite class, and also achieving what her teacher (and brother in law) had asked her to do: help the new kid to be up to date with her classes.

After berating herself on her way back home, Waverly had reached another conclusion: she wasn’t a quitter. She may be an expert in hiding her emotions or pretending things were always sunshine and rainbows but abandoning a challenge or a fight was not part of her. That’s why she was now in her room -listening to the Dixie Chicks-, while researching everything she could about the Autism Spectrum Disorder.

     “Have you seen my black jeans, baby girl?”, asked Wynonna, entering her room without invitation or even caring for one.

     “Black jeans seem like a huge category in your case. Can you make it more specific, Wy?”

Wynonna was checking Waverly’s drawers, not caring about the organization of her clothes or the fact that she was making a mess in the floor.

     “The ones I had the other day”

     “Again, not specific enough”

Wynonna stopped her search and sat next to her sister. She glanced quickly at her sister’s computer before continuing.

     “I mean it, Waves. I need my black jeans, the ones with the knee hole and front pockets. They are the perfect match for my Nutella shirt, and I want to use them for my expedition with Valdez this weekend”

     “The ones you borrowed Willa last Friday for her date with Bobo?” answered Waverly, without pausing her reading. She was now making a list of characteristics of children with ASD so she could find some tricks later to help Nicole to learn things easier.

     “Shit, you’re right! Now I have to call her again and asked them back”

     “First of all, language! And second, what do you mean call her again?”. Then she frowned and asked “Also, do you have plans with Valdez this weekend? Mom made clear she didn’t want you out of the house on the weekends or after school until your grades showed an improvement”

     “Easy, baby girl! I have kept my word and I have come straight home every day since she told me. And Willa will help me with the perfect excuse: sister bonding time!”.

The words caused a deep sting in Waverly’s heart, but she didn’t show it.

Her older sisters were close, with Willa always commenting about how awesome she thought Wynonna was and how she reminded her of her own behavior while growing up. Even if they weren’t mean to her (although she was closer to Wynonna), the fact that Waverly was classified by everyone as a good girl, following the rules and excelling at school, gave them the perfect excuse to keep their distance.

That’s why she decided to complete her list with a last recommendation to Wynonna.

     “Why don’t you call Willa and ask them back? I’m sure she can bring them really quickly and you can tell her more about your plans with Valdez”

     “I guess there’s no other way” Wynonna shrugged. “Why are you reading about Autism Spectrum Disorder?”

      “Bobo put me in charge of helping the transferred girl. I made a mistake with her today and I want to do better next time”

     “I’m sure you’ll do great baby girl. You are the best in making people feel comfortable” she kissed Waverly’s forehead and stood up to leave her alone. “Sorry for the mess. I will clean it for you later”

     “Don’t worry. I will do it soon. Say hi to Willa for me”. Wynonna nodded and left.

Interrupting her research for a moment, she started to clean her room again. It wasn’t good for her mental health to work in a messy place with her clothes all around.

* * *

Samuel Haught had picked Nicole from school and he had tried to engage her in a conversation about her first day, but the girl had given him simple answers about the activities of the classes. She told him she was in a science project with a boy named Jeremy and had taken some notes during history with the help of a girl named Waverly. As soon as they arrived home, the girl had greeted her mom and went to her room, muttering about her converse.

     “She is going to be fine, Sam. It was just her first day. At least she told you some things. We would have reason to worry if she hadn’t mentioned anything about her school time”, Miranda told him.

He knew she was right but after all the experiences they had with Nicole and schools, he felt he needed to make sure. He shared her thoughts with Miranda, and she agreed, telling him they could check on their daughter with the excuse of sharing some vegan train-shaped jelly.

They found her reading a book about trains in her bed, with her headphones on, probably listening to her favorite Beatles collection, all of them gifts from Shae and approved by the GCA. As the headphones were good at isolating her from unwanted stimuli, his father approached her carefully and sat in front of her. Nicole reacted to the change in her bed and glanced quickly at her parents. She smiled when her mother put the jelly in the center of the bed, taking a seat next to her father and forming a perfect triangle.

      “I made your favorite, sweetie”. Nicole nodded at her mom with a small smile. “Your father told me you had science, history and study time with a new friend”.

Nicole nodded and picked a jelly cube. She took her time to enjoy it before giving her mother a more elaborate answer.

       “His name is Jeremy Chettri. His parents come from India, but he was born in Toronto like me. Then his family moved here when he was six. So, he knows what is like to be new, he explained” the girl told them.

       “That’s great, honey. I’m glad things were great and that you didn’t have any troubles during your first day”. As soon as she finished her casual remark, Miranda exchanged worried looks with her husband, noticing how Nicole had stopped midway before taking another cube of jelly.

     “You know you can tell us anything, right?” Samuel asked.

After a moment, Nicole nodded but remained silent.

     “What about lunch, huh? According to the menu the school sent, you were supposed to have Mexican soup and tacos. I wanted to go there, it sounded tasty!”. Nicole smiled at her mother’s dreamy look. Miranda loved spicy food.

      “Jeremy ate with me. He helped me picking a soup that didn’t have chili on it and ate the jalapenos that they put in the tacos” her parents smiled. “He told me it always helped him to feel better to press the table hard to let his anxiety go before eating and showed me how to do it. It was nice”

Miranda and Samuel felt grateful with Jeremy already. Aside from them and a few kids in the other schools, Shae was the only one that knew how stressful it could be for Nicole to eat as it was not always something she could have completely under control. The taste, the smell, the colors of the food or something that for others could be trivial as the shape, had always presented a huge challenge for her.

The GCA had given them a few exercises to prepare for these moments like making her press her palms to theirs to release some tension by contact, stand close to a wall and put her hands on it as in a stand up push up or even making descriptions of the food before eating it. At home or in restaurants, they always let Nicole choose her favorite spot to seat and that’s why they were now in a triangle as Nicole had said a long time ago that she liked the shape.

      “Well, I want to meet Jeremy. He sounds like a great kid. Maybe you should invite him to come”, Samuel suggested, and Nicole nodded while eating another cube.

      “I also met another girl. Waverly. She helped me during History with Mr. Svane”

The nervousness of their girl alarmed the Haughts: was this girl bad news?

      “Was she a nice girl, sweetie?”

Nicole took her mother’s hand and pushed the jelly aside. Her father took the hint and put the plate in the bedside table, moving so he and his wife could be close enough so she could feel safe, but without overwhelming her.

     “She wasn’t bad. But she talked a lot and she was not happy with me. I tried to write what she was telling me about the wars because we had to be part of a debate. Only, she started to talk too fast and too loudly. I wanted to tell her that I had forgotten my Harry Potter converse and that I was feeling distracted with the boots I picked, but she didn’t let me explain. She just kept talking about wars”.

At this point Nicole was holding her mother with all her might. Miranda gave her a hug. It wasn’t a normal hug, but a strong one; a kind of squeeze that helped Nicole to release her anxiety faster.

They had learnt to hold her like that when she was a toddler. She had been playing with Maxwell in their backyard and a car had accidentally crashed against a pile of cans that the neighbors had prepared for the recycling truck. The dog had barked, and Nicole had started to cry. Miranda and Samuel had found her close to hyperventilating, and the girl moved to her mother and squeezed her leg. By instinct, her mother squeezed back and noticed how the girl started to calm down. Later, the team supporting Nicole in Toronto explained that it was something that worked with some kids with ASD and it was always good to let her start the hugging. Only in extreme cases were others able to initiate the contact but normally it was just them, as Nicole felt more comfortable with her parents.

     “Don’t worry, honey. Remember that she was probably unaware of your emotions or how new everything was for you. I’m sure Mr. Svane will talk to her. There’s always tomorrow to make things better with her” said Miranda, feeling her girl nod against her chest, still hugging her.

     “You know what you have to do, right sweetie?” asked Samuel and Nicole released her mother before nodding.

     “I have to give people a chance. It’s always polite the first time”, she said before giving her mother a much calmer hug. Samuel smiled but he noticed that Miranda was as worried as he was.

* * *

     “Hello Aunt Gus! Hello uncle Curtis!” yelled Waverly, opening the door to the diner that her uncle owned with his best friend, Shorty.

She had decided to go there after noticing that her mother wasn’t happy with the idea of Wynonna to spend time with Willa and Bobo during the weekend. Wynonna was trying to explain she missed her older sister, but Michelle was sure it was just an excuse to be somewhere else. Their mother knew them too well and Waverly didn’t want to be in the middle of a possible confrontation, so she had texted her aunt and Gus had answered quickly, telling her she was welcome to have breakfast with them before opening the diner.

     “Your aunt had to go with Shorty to buy some things before opening. He forgot to tell her last night and arrived after you texted”, said Curtis walking towards her and offering a hug that Waverly happily accepted.

Curtis had this way about him that always made Waverly comfortable to share anything. Her relationship with her father and stepfather wasn’t the best: Julian was a cool guy, still friendly with her mother but not ready to be involved in a serious relationship, he had left as soon as she was born. He visited sometimes or called her to check how she was doing, but she didn’t feel connected to him as his daughter. And Ward Earp, her stepfather, had died when she was four, so she didn’t have a lot of memories of him. That’s why she loved Curtis as her father figure, and he treated her as his own.

     “It’s okay. We can have breakfast together” she smiled, and Curtis nodded, breaking the hug and moving to the kitchen to serve some coffee for them, along with blueberry pancakes.

     “That we can do. Take a seat”. Waverly did and he added, “How’s school going?”

     “Great!”, he noticed something was bothering her, so he gave her a pointed look, and she continued. “Actually, things were going great until yesterday. I made a huge mistake”

     “What type of mistake?”

     “There’s this new girl in my class. Bobo told me to help her with some classes, as she was new. I assumed she just needed some indications during class, and I wanted to be able to participate. You know how much I love to participate, and it was a debate!” she explained. Curtis nodded. “Well, she wasn’t paying attention. She was just sitting there, sometimes she wrote things but most of the time she kept looking at her shoes. Her shoes! I felt so ignored and I hate that, you know it”

      “I know, baby girl. I’m guessing this girl is not academically inclined. In that case, is not your responsibility if she pays attention or not” he reassured her.

     “That’s what I thought, and I told that to Bobo. Well, I told him but thinking about him as Mr. Svane. You know I try to ignore the fact that he’s married to Willa”.

     “I know” he nodded.

     “Well, he explained he thought I was going to notice the girl’s difficulty, as she was part of the ASD. That’s my mistake”

      “Well, don’t be so hard on yourself, girl. Bobo should have told you about it, not expect for you to see it”, he reassured her.

     “Jeremy noticed!”

     “Jeremy is a smart kid, but so are you. The fact that he noticed, doesn’t mean is your mistake”

     “If I wasn’t so focused on the participation and took my time to see the signs, I would have notice something too. I mean, after Bobo told me it was pretty obvious” she shrugged, and Curtis smiled in understanding. “Did I mention that Bobo made an activity during homeroom to make us introduce ourselves to her? He never does that; it’s so elementary school!”

     “You didn’t mention that. Still, I think it wasn’t only your mistake. A smart person as yourself should know that is fair to recognize our part of the cake in terms of the consequences of our actions. It is greedy and wrong to think we have all the responsibility when there are others involved”.

     “You are right. That’s why I did my part and researched everything I could about ASD to be prepared for Nicole today. I have some ideas for activities so she can take notes and remember important information” she said.

Curtis gave her a proud smile.

     “That’s my girl. But remember that this” he said, taking her hand and placing it above her heart, “it’s what defines you the most, baby girl. You can help her a lot with those exercises and with the passion you have for learning. But the most important thing is the way you can help her through your emotions. Be empathetic, connect with her, bond with her. You know more than me that the brain is a sucker for emotions”

She giggled and stood up to hug him.

     “You are right, uncle Curtis. Thank you! I love you so much!”

      “I love you too, kid” he said. Then he stood up too and nodded towards the clock in the diner. “It’s time to put your plan into action”

      “Right! Wish me luck!” she said, taking her bag, hugging him once more and moving towards the door.

     “You won’t needed. But I expect a full report in the afternoon” he yelled, and she smiled before leaving.


	4. Chapter 3: Now I have 3 amigos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole feels confident in facing her second day of school and Waverly tries to approach her again to apologize for her behavior.

Nicole was walking with her father to school, listening to him talk about a time when he decided to scape home and visited the museum by himself to check an exposition about transportations since the creation of the wheel. It was Nicole’s favorite story as she had heard it a lot and her father knew, so he indulged her.

That story, her train pendant, her Harry Potter Converse, her headphones with Oasis music playing softly and her favorite book about trains, were helping her to feel more confident in her second day at the new school. A smile broke in her face when she noticed Jeremy was waiting for her close to the parking lot, wearing a Hufflepuff tie and holding his Transformers bag.

     “’Sup Nicole?” he greeted, suddenly nervous when he noticed Nicole’s dad. “Hello, Nicole’s father, sir”

Samuel laughed warmly, extending his hand to shake Jeremy’s.

    “Hello, my name is Samuel. And you must be Jeremy, right?”

     “Yes, sir”. He took the hand, shake it and felt calmer at the friendly manner of Nicole’s father.

     “Nicole told me you were very helpful to her yesterday. You can come over at any time”

     “It was a pleasure. Nicole has an amazing talent to follow instructions which helped a lot when we completed our first experiment together during Science”, the boy said, earning a grateful look from Samuel and a nervous one from Nicole, although a small, proud smile could be seen in her face.

     “Well, I’m sure you will do even better today”. Samuel turned to Nicole and took her hands to capture her attention. “Have a wonderful day, honey. Remember to ask questions when needed, to be yourself and to enjoy every moment, okay?”.

Nicole nodded and hugged her father goodbye. Then Samuel gave Jeremy a pat on his shoulder and wished him a nice day too, before leaving them alone to enter the school.

_________________

Arts wasn’t Waverly’s favorite class. Miss Jones was probably good at painting, but she wasn’t very good at giving instructions or handling the class, so most of the time her classmates were busy with other things. Right now, for example, a group of kids were playing with a ball, throwing it around and carefully avoiding dropping it as none of them wanted a ridiculous penalty.

It was in this moment that she usually made most of her schoolwork and at the end of each term she delivered a quickly painted landscape, so she could earn herself the best grades. Today, however, she had another plan in mind as she saw Nicole sitting already by one of the tables, with paintbrushes, oils and a canvas ready, waiting for instructions to start her work.

     “Hello” she said and noticed Nicole tensed when she saw her. “May I sit with you?”. The girl nodded.

She carefully put her bag next to Nicole’s things. The redhead was confused, watching the kids playing and Miss Jones texting on her phone, without noticing the class.

     “Don’t worry about them. Miss Jones tells us she only wants us to paint something beautiful, and once we finish, she just let us be. Most of the people just give her trash and explain why that’s art, so she grades the paintings she likes better”. Nicole nods but Waverly could tell the girl was still confused. “You can paint what you want, whatever you like the most”.

     “I like a lot of things, but I can’t think of just one, right now. And I was expecting some direction, but the classroom is too loud and I’m not sure if the teacher said something”.

      “I’m sure she didn’t. She never does. Well, only at the start of every year. I can help you if you want”. Nicole nodded, but look suddenly nervous. Waverly sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about my behavior yesterday. I wasn’t the most helpful during history. It’s my favorite class and I guess I wasn’t the most welcoming to you”.

      “It’s alright”.

       “Also, I thought you were ignoring me as you kept checking your shoes, and I don’t like to feel ignored”.

Nicole looked directly at Waverly and the brunette could see realization in her eyes, before the feeling went back to nervousness.

      “I forgot my converse yesterday. They have squares in red and yellow and a quidditch, and they help me be braver. I was trying to explain that my boots were making me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t” said Nicole in a rush and Waverly’s heart was squeezed in tenderness at the explanation. “But I took notes of what you said. And my father and mother helped me to read more about the Cold War so that I could be of help in another debate. I’m sorry. It was a lot and too fast”

Nicole was holding her train pendant nervously, feeling her confidence of the morning leaving her faster. Art class was not one of her favorites usually because it involved touching the paint and making a mess, and different colors had to be mixed and she didn’t trust most of them. But it seems like this year she wasn’t expected to paint a lot and it should have been good news, except Waverly was going to be more disappointed now that they had to share this class too.

     “I like your converse; you look very nice with them. You look a bit like I picture Ginny in the books” said Waverly.

      “Do you like Harry Potter?” asked Nicole, surprise evident in her tone and Waverly eagerly nodded.

      “I love it. While growing up, Jeremy and I used to play with our wands, imagining that we were in a duel. Now, we quizzed each other sometimes on Harry Potter trivia. And we have a plan to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter once we finish school, just before college”

Nicole nodded, only getting part of the information as Waverly was a bit fast when excited. Waverly must have noticed this because she immediately calmed herself down and went quiet for a moment.

     “I also like your pendant” she said after a while.

      “My parents gave it to me yesterday. It’s for luck, they said. And it’s a train, so I think it makes me safe”

      “So, you like trains?” Nicole nodded. “I like them too, but I have never ride one before”

       “I have!” said Nicole, excited.

The girl spent the rest of the class telling Waverly about her adventures with her parents in different cities with trains, also sharing historical facts and statistics. Waverly felt herself relaxed. Today was going better than she imagined.

____________________

Wynonna was walking towards the trees near the basketball field, where the girls’ team was in the middle of practice. She noticed Bobo and Champ sitting in the bleachers, enjoying the lunch break while also checking that everything was alright with the people in the area.

After finding her favorite spot, she decided to lay down and sleep. She had fought with her mother since early in the morning and was feeling extremely tired. Her trip with Valdez had to wait as her mother had seen through her lie of wanting to spend more time with Willa. Also, she felt guilty, because Michelle told her that if her plan was to be closer to her sister, she should have included Waverly.

It was not as if she didn’t love Waverly. She was her favorite person in the whole world! But she was too pure, and Wynonna felt more as the black sheep. The fact that Willa, as badass as she was, told her every time she could that she liked that she was a rebel, was something that also had a huge impact on her.

While thinking this, she noticed the new girl walking alone towards one of the tables near the field. She was alone, headphones on and, if Wynonna guessed correctly by the way the girl was moving, she was trying to avoid the lines on the floor.

The girl had been a surprise for everyone, not only at school. Apparently Hetty Tate had seen her arrived with her parents in a very luxurious SUV. Not that it mattered to Wynonna as she was more interested in the way that the girl seemed to be too much in her own mind, even when she noticed her on Sunday, walking with her father while Wynonna was with Doc and Valdez planning their next adventure.

Now, the redhead was sitting by herself, completely oblivious to the world. Wynonna saw that Bobo was paying attention to the redhead too but trying to be casual by keeping the appearance of being engaged in his conversation with Champ. That’s why the two of them noticed the change in the practice when one of the girls missed the ball after a recovery for her team, and accidentally let her pass towards the place where Nicole was.

Wynonna stood up, ready to alert Nicole of the change but the ball hit her in the knee and startled her. Bobo and Champ stood up too and were nervously waiting for the girl’s reaction.

      “Sorry, I missed the catch. Are you okay?” asked the girl, approaching Nicole.

       “Yes, I’m fine”, Wynonna saw her nod and move her hand over her knee to shake the pain off. “Here”. Nicole throw the ball back and the girl nodded in thanks before going back to her game.

    “You okay there, Red?” asked Wynonna, finally near to Nicole, panting with the exertion of her short run.

     “My name is Nicole, not red. Red is a color, not a name” answered Nicole.

     “Right. Well, I like your hair and your hair is red. So, I’m going to call you Red, sometimes. Does it bother you?”

Wynonna noticed that Nicole was thinking about it. Then she saw her shrugged.

   “It’s okay. Red is a good color”.

Wynonna smiled.

    “Yes, it is. I’m Wynonna, by the way”. She sat and made a motion to Nicole so she could take her seat once more and continue with her lunch. “Why aren’t you eating in the cafeteria?”

      “It was too loud, and I asked Ms. Perley if I could eat outside and she let me. What about you?”

      “I never eat there. Well, only when there’s something interesting. I bring my own snacks”.

Nicole nodded.

     “I don’t like most of the snacks. They taste funny and my fingers get all dirty”.

      “Well, I mostly bring donuts, or chips, or sandwiches. So, a napkin can be helpful for cleaning”.

She noticed the way Nicole separated carefully the greens that were part of her rice and isolated the potatoes as if making clear for them that she wasn’t going to eat them.

     “You don’t like potatoes?”

      “I do, but only when they are in squares… or cubes. I like cubes.”

Wynonna smirked.

     “Well, I like them in every form so maybe you can give them to me when you don’t feel like eating them. In exchange, I can get you a very round donut. What do you say?”

Nicole smiled and nodded.

     “Okay. I would love that very much”


	5. Chapter 4: I enjoy math but… a team? Wow!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole is feeling better in her new school thanks to Jeremy’s support and the common things she has with Waverly. But now she has offers to consider and maybe it’s starting to sound like a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m sorry it took me so long to update this story. My mind has been a mess and one of my dogs has been having health issues. She’s an old lady but a strong one and thankfully she’s still giving her best.  
> Anyway, here’s another chapter. As always thank you for your lovely comments, your kudos and patience. Have a lovely week!

     “Hey, Red!”

Nicole was on her locker and turned to see Wynonna walking towards her. The girl stopped near her and offered a donut. Nicole liked donuts but only chocolate ones, and this one seem to have colorful sprinkles in it.

     “Hello Wynonna” she politely greeted and shocked her head to refused the offered donut. 

Wynonna just shrugged and proceeded to eat it.

     “I like your shoes. Seems like you and my sister are really hardcore Potterheads, huh?”

     “I don’t know your sister and can’t be sure about our common interests but these are my lucky converse”

     “Okay. Well, Red, I came here to ask if you can come to my house on Friday. There’s a small gathering of friends. Nothing big. I would like you to meet some of them”

     “Oh”. Nicole nervously played with her keychain. “I would have to ask to my parents”.

     “Alright. Let me know!” 

Then Wynonna patted her on the shoulder and walked to another corridor, disappearing from view.

     “Everything alright?” 

Nicole was startled for a moment, but relaxed when she saw Jeremy walking towards her.

     “Yes”

     “Perfect! It’s math time and I’m looking forward to it. Let’s go!”

She smiled and walked with Jeremy to the classroom. They sat at the front and after a moment, another girl sat next to her. The girl had light brown hair and was texting instead on paying attention to the class. Nicole noticed the girl glancing her way, smiling awkwardly and going back to her cell, before Jeremy gently called her to direct her attention to the teacher once more.

They were given instructions about solving some problems in page 19 of the book, so they could prepare a little explanation of how they managed to do it for the rest of the class and compare procedures or discuss mistakes. Nicole was not comfortable with speaking in front of a room full of people but Jeremy helped her make notes and together they prepared how to write the problem on the board while explaining each part of the equations needed. The notes were very helpful as Jeremy suggested she make a list of their procedure and she loved lists a lot.

Miss Perley called the groups and they all started their explanation. Nicole even raised her hand to point out a mistake in one of the problems and Miss Perley asked her to clarify. She focused on her converse for a while and gave her explanation while playing with her pencil, making it circle between her fingers. Jeremy complemented her answer and Miss Perley gave another example so the group in charge and the class could understand better. 

Then it was their turn and Nicole made sure to read her notes while pointing awkwardly to the problem Jeremy was writing. Then, she started to feel really excited and started to forget her notes, extending on her explanation and giving examples with some drawings to show how calculations were important in building things. The class was amazed and so was Miss Perley. Jeremy completed the work reminding the equations and rules necessary to solve the problem and then they sat, satisfied when the class looked at them with admiration. 

     “That was awesome!” said Jeremy after they went back to their seats.

Miss Perley was writing the assignment for next class and congratulating the class for their work.

     “And your drawings… wow! I didn’t think about that and then you went and did amazing with those examples. You really are a genius!” 

     “My dad gave me a book about math were everything was explained with a picture and I just remembered some of them and put them into practice” 

     “Well, whatever your secret was Nicole, that was simply amazing! I mean, you were drawing really fast and explaining everything like a pro” 

     “What do you mean ‘like a pro’?” Asked Nicole, while starting to pack her book and notebook after the class was dismissed.

     “I mean, like a professional”. 

Nicole nodded in understanding and walked with Jeremy to her next class, History. 

     “I’ll see you after class” said Jeremy and Nicole nodded before entering the classroom.

Mr. Svane was already there reading something. A few students were sitting and some were entering. She sat at the front, close to the teacher desk and started to unpack her things for the class. 

Then she noticed the girl from Math talking to a skinny boy at the door, before leaving. The boy entered and sat in the front row, leaving a seat between him and Nicole. Waverly entered with two boys who moved to the back, and sat next to Nicole.

     “Hello Nicole. How are you today?” the girl asked smiling.

Nicole felt herself copying the smile.

     “I’m okay” she answered. 

Waverly smiled again.

     “You seem very happy. Did something happen?” 

Nicole glanced at Mr. Svane before answering. He was still reading, while the class prepared their things. He usually gave them a few minutes before starting as he didn’t want interruptions during class.

     “I had a great time at Math class with Jeremy. We had to explain a problem with the use of an equation and I had my notes ready, but then I started to remember a picture for a similar problem and made one to help in the explanation. I even got to make a snitch because I needed to make the point of explaining how a variable can be anything and I just thought it was the perfect way”. She noticed that Waverly was still smiling although something was looking slightly different in her reaction. “I’m sorry. My mom says that it’s okay to speak everything that comes to my mind but that not everyone does it so it can be uncomfortable or tiring for them. Is it for you? Because I can stop if you give me a hint next time. Like, my dad just touches my arm or Shae pats me on the shoulder. Well, she did but not anymore because she went away”.

     “It’s okay. I’m usually the one who talks nonstop so I really enjoyed the change. And I want to see one of those math drawings. They sound fun and totally useful” answered Waverly.

Before they could continue, Mr. Svane left his book, gave them all a look of recognition and started to write the topic for the class. _Korean War: was the UN useful?_.

     “As you can see, we have a very important task today. We saw a few classes back that the UN was created to maintain peace but then these powers start to go against each other in different ways: by using other countries to impose ideologies, by taking advantage of inner conflicts or simply racing against each other in the exploration of space. I’m going to write 5 sentences and you are going to reflect about them and then write a connection to what the UN was supposed to do. Then we are all going to read what it actually happened. Ready?”

When the class answered affirmatively, he started to write the sentences. Nicole noticed that Waverly used different colors for each sentence and her own reflections related to them. She remembered it was a trick she had practiced with Shae while reading very complex English texts about romance, murderous families and power. So she started to use different colors too, thinking it may be helpful when remembering the information later. 

     “Hello Waverly” 

Nicole noticed the skinny kid giving Waverly a smile. She was reminded of one of the cards they showed her in therapy that was associated with a suspicious person. 

     “Hi Tucker. Can I help you with something?” 

     “Well, I have trouble understanding the second sentence”. He moved his chair closer to Waverly and Nicole saw her sitting more rigid. “If there are not real borders to stop people from coming our country, then everything will be simply chaos, don’t you think? That’s why borders were invented”. 

     “Not really. Meridians and parallels, as well as borders, are just imaginary lines to help in the understanding of geographical characteristics and changes in the weather as well as other dynamics. The UN just wanted to make clear that people has a right to move wherever because those lines are not made for discrimination”, Nicole answered, while changing pens to write another sentence.

     “Who are you?” asked the guy Waverly had called Tucker.

     “Sorry. I should have said my name at the beginning. My name is Nicole Haught”. 

She offered her hand to shake but he ignored it. She felt relieved.

     “Well, Nicole Haught. I wasn’t talking to you. Go mind your own business”.

     “She did give you a very good answer so maybe you should continue with the exercise on your own” added a Waverly, smiling at Nicole and focusing once more on her work. 

The rest of the class Nicole noticed that Tucker gave her strange looks, but as she couldn’t figure out what was on his mind, she decided to continue learning about the role of the UN in the Korean War.

     “Don’t forget to read more about the war and prepare a little speech of two minutes with your ideas about the problems that made Korea divided itself. Now, go!”. 

Nicole moved to packed her things and saw Jeremy waiting for her at the door.

     “You were very clear in your answer to Tucker. And I noticed that you also like to take notes with different colors. We have that in common” said Waverly. 

     “And you also like Harry Potter” added Nicole.

     “Yes, that too! Well, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out after school one of these days. Maybe go for a milkshake or something”

     “I like strawberry milkshakes” 

     “Great! Well, maybe ask your parents and we can plan more of it. See you later!” Waverly rushed to her next class leaving Nicole a bit confused.

     “You okay there?” Asked Jeremy.

     “Yes. I met a new boy today that was a bit confused about borders and didn’t seem happy when I explained them to him. Also, Waverly told me we should hang out after school one of these days and that I should ask my parents, but how do I do that when the day isn’t clear?”

     “Well, I’m going to answer in two parts as you are talking about two different things”. Nicole nodded as it made sense. “First, I think you met Tucker Gardner and he was probably annoyed at your existence because he’s not the nicest person and he has a creepy obsession with Waverly”

     “How is it possible to be annoyed by someone existing? It’s a fact” she said and Jeremy laughed.

     “I know, but he’s like that. Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine as long as you try your best to ignore him”

     “Okay. I can do that”

They moved to the cafeteria and made the line so Jeremy could have his lunch. Nicole had made her mom packed her favorite: peanut butter sandwich, triangle jelly and apple in squares. 

     “About the second part, you should ask your parents if it’s okay to see Waverly after school any day and pending on their answer, you let Waverly know which day works best for you to hang out”

     “Well, I think I’ll ask them too if I can go to Wynonna’s on Friday. So that if they say yes, I can tell Waverly I can a day that’s not next Friday”.

     “Well, there’s a chance you see Waverly on Friday too, as she is Wynonna’s little sister” explained Jeremy. 

He selected his food and thanked the woman serving.

     “So I did know Wynonna’s sister” said Nicole, remembering her conversation with the oldest Earp. “In that case I will only ask for Friday and see if Waverly is okay to be with me and the friends Wynonna wants me to meet”.

     “That’s a good plan. I’m going to sit over there, but I’ll see you outside, alright?”

She nodded and walked towards the tables outside in the field, as she had agreed with Jeremy with the cafeteria being too loud. Jeremy had been happy with their arrangement because apparently it was very important to him to eat while listening One Direction. 

Once outside she noticed Wynonna in one of the tables. The girl patted the chair next to her when she saw her and Nicole walked towards her.

     “So you packed your own lunch for today, huh?”

     “My mom did. I just told her what I wanted. We read that the menu today was going to be macaroni and cheese, but I don’t like the texture so it was a better idea to bring something I like”

Wynonna moved to check Nicole’s food and gave a nod of approval.

     “Everything has the right shape”

     “Yes, it does. What are you eating?”

     “I packed myself some donuts and my afternoon coffee”. 

She opened a box with little donuts on it and Nicole was surprised to see so many.

     “You can eat all of those?”, she asked. Wynonna smiled.

     “Well, I can leave some for later and it’s always good to have some to spare if I find myself a good friend”. Nicole nodded.

     “I love chocolate donuts, but I only eat them once in a while because apparently sugar can make me more anxious”.

     “You are in luck today. I have this chocolate donut to spare. Is the only one left. And you are one of my friends now, so what do you say?”

Nicole saw that Wynonna was taking the donut in a napkin, careful in holding it as an offer to her.

     “Thank you!”, she said and Wynonna just shrugged.

The brunette kept drinking her coffee but noticed that Nicole was still staring at the donut, while nervously checking her lunch.

     “Everything alright there, Red?”

     “I just noticed that we talked the other day about making an even exchange but I’m not sure if you like jelly, peanut butter sandwiches or apples”

     “You can eat the donut and I will take some apples if that’s alright. I love food in every form, so don’t worry about it”.

Nicole smiled and together they enjoyed their shared food.

* * *

Champ Hardy may not be the brightest man of the bunch and he could be a bit obsessed with women and having fun. But if there was one thing he was very serious about was his job and everything related to sports. 

He was very good at detecting abilities and doing his best at making them shine. There wasn’t a lot that he could work with in Purgatory as the kids seem more interested in girls and boys their age than anything else. He didn’t blame them but it was difficult to have a decent team of hockey or basketball during each season, when kids’ attention was somewhere else.

Principal Lucado had suggested he opened positions for girls to have better chances and he did. He had not trouble with it as he had seen girls playing football and basketball on tv and damn if they were good. But other than the female basketball team, which was decent enough, the girls in the school were only interested in cheering or dancing, so when one of the girls in the team transferred to a bigger town, not many girls were interested in replacing her.

That’s why he was so excited to have the new kid in town. The profile Rosita gave them said she was very good in Athletics and had won some medals in her former school. But it was during his lunch conversation with Bobo yesterday, that he noticed something that could change Purgatory’s history in sports for the better: the girl had been walking when one of the girls in the basketball team had lost control of the ball and it had bounced and hit her on the knee. He was worried for a moment, but the redhead only patted her knee and took the ball to pass it back to the girl. 

And that, was the best: he saw the movement of her wrist, her precision and she was tall enough to make it. So, he decided, he was going to test his theory during lunch today.

On his way to the bleachers, Champ noticed that the girl was sitting with Wynonna Earp. It was a very strange pair, considering Wynonna’s reputation as a troublemaker, but at least the redhead wasn’t alone.

     “Hello girls. How’s lunch?” He asked with a smile and Wynonna gave him an exasperated look.

     “We were enjoying it as it is, usually, a teacher free time. What do you want, Chump?”

     “It’s Champ. I told you already” he clarified and Wynonna smirked. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to your friend, not you”. When Nicole kept eating her sandwich, he cleared his throat and felt the need to be clearer. “Is Nicole, right?”

     “Me? Yes, I’m Nicole Haught”. The girl cleaned her hand with a napkin and nervously extended it in greeting. He shook it and smiled. 

Wynonna was paying close attention to them, while drinking her coffee.

     “Have you ever played basketball?” he asked.

     “Only with my parents, back in Toronto. My father was a varsity player during school and college and my mom loves sports. But we haven’t played in a while because we were focused on my running as I was in Athletics in my other school as Shae suggested. But then Shae had to leave and I didn’t feel like running anymore”

Wynonna seemed impressed while Champ was trying to catch all the information.

     “Well, we have a spot in the team and I think you should stay for tryouts tomorrow. You definitely have the wrist move. I saw you throw that ball back to the girls after it hit your knee. And we could need that, you know?”

     “I’m not very good with new people or team activities. My mind gets too crowded”

     “We’ll be there, Chump. Me and Red are going to show you some moves you haven’t seen before”.

     “Great! I’ll be waiting for you at 3pm, after class. Don’t be late!”

He saw the perplexed look of Nicole and the way Wynonna moved to talk to the girl but he didn’t stay. He had planned to recruit one player and now he had two possible prospects. Sure, Wynonna Earp was not the first one to come to his mind in terms of sports but if that’s what it took to win, he was more than satisfied.


	6. Chapter 6: Surprise, everyone! Nicole and Wynonna are friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole talks to her mother about her plans with Wynonna, Jeremy and Waverly, while Wynonna surprises her family with changes in her personality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I’m surprised with myself for having a quick update for this story but I’m feeling that my soul needs to write, if that makes sense. So, I hope to keep that feeling going so I can give you more chapters soon.
> 
> Thank you as always for your comments, kudos and appreciation. It makes my day to read your thoughts. Have a wonderful week!

     “Sorry about that. You were probably not ready to accept the offer but I need to do something to have sometime for me after school so my mother stops bothering me, you know?”, Wynonna said noticing Nicole was still processing her answer to Champ.

Nicole tried to nod but she didn’t know about Wynonna and her mom. What she did know was that she had planned to say no to couch Hardy because she had never played basketball with a team different to the one she formed with her mom or dad during weekends a long time ago.

     “I haven’t the first clue about basketball, so you have to teach me. And maybe I can teach you something too, to keep our fair bargain game on, right?”

     “I don’t know how to teach you, but maybe my parents can help and you can offer something to them. Also, I don’t like team sports with more than three persons in them, it doesn’t seem safe”. 

Wynonna noticed that Nicole was nervously playing with her pendant and shaking her feet anxiously. She motioned with her hand to Nicole’s shoulders and after receiving a nod, decided to put her arm around the redhead in a firm hold.

     “I’m not fan of crowds either, Red. I actually always avoid them and sometimes I even cause some carefully design distractions as to break them when people is too confident hanging together without a care in the world. But, maybe it’s time for us to be part of a bigger team, you know? You like the number three for basketball and that’s great and all, but it’s not really fair to the history of the game, right? It needs more people and it makes sense because they all have their roles and the rules apply even better. Besides, the team here is not great and if Champ is desperate enough to invite me, maybe it is because he also sees a lot of potential in you like I do, to make the team better”.

Nicole feels herself relaxed into Wynonna’s hold and actually considers her words.

She’s still trying to understand what “carefully design distractions” are and how they can be helpful when spaces are too crowded. But she can’t find the mistake in the logic the brunette has presented to her. 

Basketball has a historical record of having more than three players for official games and the rules were made for that. It has been successfully played for years and the leagues around the world prove it. Her father was part of those teams and maybe he would be pleased with this new development. Also, he could give her some pointers.

     “I will talk to my dad about this and about going to your home on Friday. Then, maybe he can give us a schedule to train and prepare ourselves for bigger teams”, she answered after a while.

     “Great, that’s the spirit! I have to go now but I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

Nicole nodded and Wynonna gave her one last shake before releasing her, taking her box of donuts and leaving. Jeremy was soon making his way towards her.

     “Was that Wynonna? I still can’t understand how you two became so close. She is not very friendly with a lot of people” he said, sitting next to her.

     “That’s because she doesn’t like crowds like me and she has to carefully design ways to disperse them”

Jeremy looked confused for a moment but decided to let it go.

     “Well, I was thinking I could stop by your place tomorrow. My parents are working late and I could use the company. Also, I have a new Harry Potter Monopoly game that I thought we could enjoy with your parents”

     “Yes, that would be great!” Nicole nodded excited and Jeremy smiled. “I will tell my dad. Actually, I should make a list with all the things I will have to ask him and mom. There’s a lot of things to discuss”.

Surely enough she started to write the information in her lists pad, a gift from Shae to help her organize her mind. Jeremy helped her to remember what he knew about about her plans so she could write and he was surprised when she wrote about asking to her dad to teach her and Wynonna to be part of a bigger basketball team. She didn’t have time to explain as the bell for the last period rang and they made their way to class.

* * *

     “So you are friends now, huh?” asked Curtis.

Waverly had just finished telling him about the changes in her interactions with Nicole and how she even asked her to hangout after school. She wasn’t able to see him and Gus after class yesterday and decided to visit and spend the night at their place, giving herself time away from Wynonna and Michelle’s daily bickering.

     “I like to think we are. She even made her own notes in history as colorful as mine and she put Tucker in his place when he tried to make one of his awful, selfish comments”

     “That Tucker boy is bad news. His parents may think he and Beth can’t do no harm, but they are just spoiled and mean to the core. I’m glad your new friend can see it”, said Gus, serving the food and passing the plates to Waverly and Curtis.

     “I don’t think she noticed that much because she was only stating facts, but it was fun to listen to her and see the change in Tucker at her answer. I’m just glad it happened during History and Bobo was there in case Tucker decided to make one of his tantrums”

    “I like her already. Maybe you can invite her sometime”, said Curtis.

    “Well, my invitation to hangout kind of implied coming here, as I specifically asked her to maybe drink milkshakes. She said strawberry were her favorites. Maybe I should have been clearer about the place and they day”.

    “If that’s the case, make sure to let us know when you are coming with her so we can make that strawberry milkshake extra special”, Gus added and Waverly smiled in gratitude.

     “Talking about extra special, how is Wynonna doing?” asked Curtis, serving himself more tomatoes. 

Waverly giggled at the frown Gus gave him and then answered him.

     “She’s strangely calmer this week. Mom has been asking her non stop about her plans because she suspects this is the calm before the storm and that has been annoying. But other than that, she has been doing her homework while watching tv and I heard her over the phone last night telling Valdez they could change their trip for another time and maybe party on Friday”.

    “I don’t think your mom is going to like that she’s going to a party” said Gus.

    “And I don’t think Wynonna is going to care about that” Curtis laughed and Waverly smiled at him, while Gus gave him a disapproving look. “What? You know it’s true. Michelle is just angry she hasn’t been able to party like that and that her daughter reminds her of her old ways. She should understand, sooner than later, that Wynonna is a free spirit. Michelle celebrated it at first and even encouraged her. So playing the responsible parent right now is not going to work”

    “She only did that to try to protect her kids after Ward’s death. Waverly was too young so she doesn’t remember, but it was hard for Willa and Wynonna. It was only normal she tried to make them feel happy. But those days are over and Wynonna needs to be more responsible”.

     “I think she’s trying, but mom is too focused on fighting her. They should both relax, actually. Being in that house is too difficult sometimes. And anyway, I came here to spend some time with my favorite aunt and uncle, enjoying a calm dinner without indirect conversation or reproaching remarks”.

Noticing that Waverly was not enjoying the current topic, Curtis decided to intervene.

     “You are very right about that, Waverly. So, let’s finish this amazing dinner your beautiful aunt made us and then you and I are going to pick a movie for later, to relax and enjoy”

    “It is a school night, Curtis. Your flattery won’t help your case”.

Although Gus tried to sound stern, Waverly could see that Curtis had already won and that his flattery had won her a movie night.

* * *

     “Can I come in?”, asked Nicole’s mom after knocking on her bedroom door.

Nicole had arrived with her father from school but he had to go to check something for his new job at the hospital and she had been doing her homework while her mother arrived from doing some errands.

    “You can” she said and stopped reading about Korea. 

She turned to her mother and saw her approach with her favorite cookies on a plate.

     “I thought we could share these while you told me about your day”

     “Okay”, Nicole nodded and took a cookie, making sure to enjoy it. Then she went to her backpack and retrieved her lists pad. “I actually have a lot of things to ask you and dad. Do you mind if I tell you without him?”

Miranda smiled at her.

     “That’s very considerate of you to ask. I don’t have a problem with it and I’m sure your father either, but only if you’re sure it doesn’t bother you to repeat yourself”

     “Not at all” said Nicole after a quick consideration. “During Math class, Jeremy and I worked on a presentation of a solution to a problem with a series of equations and I remembered how to relate them to pictures that could help others understand us. Miss Pearly said we did great. Then, in History, I noticed that Waverly makes notes just like Shae taught me, and I remember to do it for a class assignment. So, it was easier to differentiate the topics needed for class. I also met a boy named Tucker that thought borders were a real separation and couldn’t understand why the UN granted free moving across borders for everyone”

     “Sounds like you had a lot of fun in class”

     “I had more fun in Math but I didn’t enjoy the part were we had to explain things to the others. I’m not good at that”

     “Well, listening to you I think you did better than you give yourself credit for. Not everyone manages to forget their nervousness in order to remember to add drawings to their explanation”. Miranda passes Nicole the last cookie. “Did you enjoy lunch today?”

     “Yes. Wynonna and I agreed to exchange some food so I ate a chocolate donut and gave her some of my apples. She seemed to enjoy the cubes too”

     “Wynonna?”

     “Oh, I forgot to mention her. She’s my other friend. I met her during lunch time yesterday. She tried to protect me from a ball that a girl in the basketball team lose control of. But it only hit me in the knee. And Wynonna proposed we could trade food when the other had something tasty, as she doesn’t enjoy the cafeteria food or big crows, just like me”

     “She sounds nice”, Miranda suggested and Nicole nodded.

     “She is. She invited me to go to her house on Friday to meet her other friends. She said it was a small gathering”. Nicole checked her list before continuing. “She’s Waverly’s sister, according to Jeremy, and Waverly also asked me to hangout after school but didn’t specify a day or time. So, I thought I could do both on Friday. She just asked if we could maybe drink a milkshake and I told her my favorite. But she went to class before we could set the day. Do you think she’s going to be part of Wynonna’s gathering?”

     “Maybe you should ask for more details to Wynonna and Waverly, and sent a text to your father and me to let us know. I don’t see why you can’t do both and we would only need their address. But maybe we could meet them tomorrow when we drop you at school, just to be sure they understand our time schedule better. Is that alright?”

Nicole thought for a moment and nodded. She wrote the suggestion in her notes to explain this part to her dad later.

     “Dad already met Jeremy. And invited him to come whenever, so Jeremy suggested we could come here tomorrow. His parents are leaving him alone and he wants to play Harry Potter Monopoly with us”.

     “Sounds like the perfect plan. Just make sure his parents agree with him coming over”.

Nicole wrote that too.

    “Also, Coach Hardy, the basketball coach, asked me to try out for the team because they need new people. Wynonna says they are not that good and that they need our help. So she accepted for the both of us”

    “What? Why did she do that? Is that what you want?”, Miranda asked, knowing her daughter was not comfortable with a lot of people at once.

     “She needs to have space from her mother, you know?”, Nicole said and her mother nodded with uncertainty. “So she thought we could do it. She told me it was historically better to play basketball in more than a three person team like we do with dad. And she said the rules made more sense that way. So I thought we could include her in our games and teach her more of it. Maybe dad can help us to do better with crowds and we can face our fear together”

Miranda was feeling more curious by the second about Wynonna. She was definitely friendly with her daughter but her use of logic to talk to Nicole made her think the girl always wanted more than she was letting on. Specially if she was using the tryouts to stay away from home. And the fact that she was the sister of Waverly, a girl who had caused trouble for Nicole the first day, wasn’t something that gave her peace of mind.

      “Present the facts to your dad and I will discuss with him further after we meet Wynonna”

Nicole nodded and wrote that part. 

     “I think that’s all”, she finished.

     “Well, I’m glad you had a great day. It seemed eventful. Now, finish your homework and as soon as your dad arrive we will have dinner and you can talk to him about everything”.

Nicole nodded and went back to her books. Miranda gave her one last look, before leaving the bedroom, still thinking about Wynonna.

* * *

     “Curtis, Gus, Waverly, I’m here!”, Wynonna yelled, closing the door loudly after her and dropping her backpack in a chair, before moving to the kitchen.

     “Don’t throw my door like that, young lady. And try not to yell when entering someone’s place”, said Gus while walking down the stairs to follow her niece to the kitchen. “Also, I think I missed your call letting us know you were coming”

    “I didn’t call, so don’t worry. You didn’t miss it”, the brunette shrugged and made herself comfortable enough for breakfast. 

     “Hello there! If it isn’t my rock star niece, huh?” greeted Curtis and gave Wynonna a pat on the shoulder, sitting next to her.

    “That was a long time ago, Curtis. I don’t rock anymore. Now I only do my homework like a responsible young lady”

Curtis laughed at that and Wynonna smirked. Gus just made a noise that sounded like a grunt, but continued preparing pancakes and orange juice.

     “Good morning, aunt Gus! Good morning uncle Curtis! Good morning Wy!” Waverly greeted and gave each one a kiss on the cheek and a hug. Wynonna grunted but Curtis noticed she was pleased.

     “I have never understood how can you be so cheerful this early and on school days”, said the older sister .

      “I thought you were a changed woman, being a responsible lady now”, Gus replied and put the pancakes in front of them so they could serve themselves. 

Curtis stood up for a moment and pass the orange juice before sitting once more.

     “I may be that but it doesn’t mean I have to be that cheerful”

     “What are you doing here so early?”, asked Waverly.

     “I decided to start my day with a good breakfast as I have basketball tryouts in the afternoon”

To say the others were surprised was an understatement. 

    “What?” asked Wynonna, noticing their silent reaction.

    “Well, I think I speak for everyone in this table when I say that you have never been into sports and that you actually made fun of Willa and Waverly for being part of the cheerleaders”, said Curtis amused.

     “Exactly! You have always said that you hate that kind of physical activity and sports or teams should be banned for school as they promote been lame”, added Waverly.

  
     “What can I say? I am really working of being a better version of myself. Besides, the less time I spend at home, the better”

    “There it is. I knew there was a good explanation”

    “Look Waves, you are not the only one who wants a break. And besides, it’s a good excuse to spend time with my new friend”

     “A new friend? Is it someone related to that Holiday boy or to Valdez?”, asked Gus in a stern voice.

    “Nope. Her name is Nicole, a.k.a. Red, and I invited her home on Friday so she can meet John Henry, Valdez, Shapiro and Dolls”.

     “Wait, you are friends with Nicole?” 

     “Sure thing, baby girl. She’s going to be my new teammate and we share lunch every day in the perfect cubic form”

Waverly felt a bit confused and something else that she couldn’t grasp. 

     “I’m really curious to meet that girl. If she can face Tucker and make Wynonna a better person, she must be something else”, Gus said.

The rest of breakfast went smoothly but Waverly was still trying to understand how her sister could be closer to Nicole than she was. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Emily Andras and Beau Smith for creating the Wynonna Earp Universe. We owe you so much!


End file.
